KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A raid involving the Knox County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit and SWAT team ended in four arrests last week, records said.
Authorities responded to a home on California Road and another home on Lula Powell Drive on Friday at around 6:35 a.m. to execute search warrants. According to court documents, the warrants were issued in a narcotics investigation that began on June 27, 2018 involving Roger "Moe" Moore, Jr., Monique Houston, Brenda Nicole Austin, and Carla Patrick.
The investigation reportedly included controlled buys from confidential informants.
According to the report, Moore would use Austin and Patrick's residence on Lula Powell Drive as a separate residence to sell narcotics and store firearms. When officers arrived at the home on California Road, the report said they found Moore in the living room within an arms reach of a lockbox that contained approximately three grams of suspected heroin, approximately 24 grams of suspected marijuana, baggies, scales, and $136.
A loaded .22-caliber handgun and approximately 3 grams of suspected marijuana were also within reach, court records said.
"In a bag located next to the recliner Mr. Moore was in, officers located .45 ammunition, a set of digital scales with residue, and baggies used for packaging illegal narcotics," the report said. "In another plastic container located also next to Mr. Moore's recliner officers discovered a bag containing approx 25 grams of a brown powder substance consistent with heroin, bringing the total weight of the suspected heroin found int he living room to approx 28 grams."
Officers found a loaded .45-caliber handgun on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen in an unlocked case, a loaded .22 caliber pistol in a bag on the washing machine, and more marijuana, according to the report.
In the upstairs bedroom, investigators said they found Houston and their four children who ranged in age from four months to 9 years old.
According to the report, officers found $400 and a black LG cell phone.
When authorities searched Moore and Houston's vehicle, the report said they found 65 gabapentin pills and neither have a valid prescription.
The pair was told their Miranda Rights and agreed to speak to investigators.
The report said Moore told them he had been selling heroin in Knoxville for over a year and sold at least five grams per day. He said he travels to Atlanta to purchase Heroin every week. Moore stated two days prior, he and Austin took two riffles, an AR-15-style rifle and an AK-47-style rifle to a remote location to shoot.
After they got back, the report said he stored the rifles at the Lula Powell Drive home because, on Nov. 8, 2002, he pleaded guilty to distribution of crack cocaine and was sentenced to 121 months in prison and five years on probation.
Houston told investigators she wasn't aware of the handguns at the home on California Road but did help him distribute heroin, according to the report.
Moore faces charges including gun and drug possession, drug distribution, and having drugs in a drug-free zone.
Houston, Austin, and Patrick face several drug-related charges.
The home on California Road is within 1,000 feet of The Reliable Child Care in Knoxville and near Lonsdale Elementary.